Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid (Conclusion)

Beware!!! Beware!!! Big Time Spoilers Ahead! If you don't want to know how this series ends, Don't read this post!

So we are now getting to the final stretch for our friends at Mithril. They are going back to Hong Kong were the Yin of the Yinand Yang twins has gone bezerk with her AS unit. She is determined to lure the Albarest to Hong Kong for her mysterious Sensei. In the briefing we fnid that the enemy is using a drug called T1970 to artificially create the brain signals needed to trigger the Lambda Driver but it cannot be prolonged. Sagara is showing more of his unease towards the Arbalest and it appears that his squad is somewhat resentful of the fact that he cannot trigger the driver. Since his return from Chidori his mind is not on what he is doing which causes him to put Melissa in jeopardy during the current mission. When she calls him on it by telling him that if he doesn’t get his head out of his ass he is going to get them killed and that she is safer going on the mission alone if he doesn’t get his act together, he abandons his post and walks away from the mission. Literally!!


Well we see Mr Weirdo once again. He is headed to Hong Kong to try to curb the errant twin. In the meantime, Sagara is quite losing it. He is wandering the streets trying to make sense of the turmoil in his head. He appears to be somewhat suicidal walking around with a bottle of liquor. He squad appears to be unaware of his abandoned post because Melissa has not reported it. Searching one of the buildings, a team finds a cadaver with a message on it’s shirt “To the Son of Bdakshon’s Tiger, meet Hamidra in Tsim Sha Tsui”. Later we discover that the same message was left in several newspapers as well as two other cadavers. It seems that the message is for Sagara who was adopted by this Bdakshan after trying to assassinate him. Sagara was given the name of Kashim by this father figure. When Tessa finds out that the message is for Sagara she discovers that he has gone awol. Sagara is still contemplating his life but after meeting a whore who looks like Chidori he falls into a deeper depression since he feels that he not only abandoned her but also his squad as well. Riddled with guilt he shuns the prostitute and leaves her in a seedy motel while he picks up where he left off, roaming the streets. In a park he finally picks up an old newspaper and sees the message that is being left for him everywhere.


Mr Weirdo has brought the body of the fallen twin to Hong Kong to rub the sister’s face with it. I felt kind of sad for her at this point. On top of that occurrence, Chidori arrives on the scene demanding to talk to the head of the agency. And while all this is happening Sagara goes to the assigned location and is given a map that was left for him. The map takes him to a park where he is contacted and sent to an apartment building. It appears that it has to do with Sagara’s past but in truth we discover that it is just someone that KNOWs of Sagara’s past. We meet the Sensei of the twins and the identity almost floors you! It’s Gauron, whom we thought drowned in the first season of FMP. He is very messed up but somewhat alive. He tells Sousuke that he was working for Amalgam and how that organization is behind a lot of the political wars around the world. Mr Weirdo is actually their trigger man. Gauron goes on to explain how the Whispered are just parts of a large puzzle each one has individualized information and each one is useful for different reasons. He tells Sousuke that he admired him when he first laid eyes on him because he displayed no human weakness but now he did show weakness because of Chidori.



During all this, the AS are now going in counter attack against Venom. Tessa is still hoping Sousuke will return to his post and take command of the Arbalest. When her subordinate accuses him of being a coward Tessa goes on the defensive and admits to loving him! She rallies the troops spirits and they renew their efforts in trying to stop Venom.
Gauron admits to having sent out Yu Fang to cause thehavoc on Hong Kong and also admits to sending Yu Lang to another mission… to kill Chidori. He tells Sousuke that she succeded and Sousuke loses it! He slaughters Gauron in his bed.

Now that was unexpected!


On to the last episode… The bed were Gauron Lay was booby trapped so at his death the who room blew up. Sagara barely escaped by throwing himself out the window. He is obviously stillin shock over Chidoi’s death when part of his squad arrives to tell him that they need him to pilot the Arbalest because Venom is kicking their butt. All Sousuke can think of his that Chidori is dead. When the Arbalest is deployed to where they stand (they just drop the AS from the sky) he scoffs at it. That is until Chidori arrives and tells him off (as well as kicks his ass! LOL!). She tells him he is useless but he is also considerate and caring. She understands that he is not a superhuman but she still cares for him. Sousuke reflect on some of the things Gauron said and realizes he has a purpose again and he is ready to get into the saddle again. Ah… the wonders of the woman behind the man! LOL!


Back on the battle ground Mr. Weird arrives with 5 other Venom units to take control over Yu Fang and finish what she has started, with Urz-1’s unit down, all appears loss. That is until Sagara arrives and starts eliminating the competition! He takes them down one by one enfuriating Mr. Weird because he is under the assumption the Mithril’s Lambda Driver is unstable and this unit is nothing but. The Lambda Driver is working like a charm now that Sousuke appears to be in peace with himself. When Mr Weird asks Sagara who he is, Sousuke responds that he doesn’t know about Mithril but he was a high school student. He then proceeds to ignore the fact that the last Venom unit has taken Urz-1 as a hostage and gave him a punch that wasn’t really a punch but completely destroys the last Venom. Of course the maneuver did not harm the hostage unit and everyone is flabbergasted. Sousuke then reports that he is moving one to his next mission and we see Chidori waiting for him.
Leonard Testarossa has witnessed everything and he reports to an unknown source the power Chidori has over Sousuke. We then find out that Sagara and Chidori have returned to Tokyo against orders.


Sousuke uses the fact that he is the only one able to pilot the Arbalest as a bargaining tool in Mithril. He proclaims he is not their soldier boy but a mercenary and if they want him to pilot the Arbalest they will let him return to school with Chidori. They are VERY pissed off but have no real choice. When Tessa tries to apologize to Sousuke for her previous outburst he tells her he cares for her and that he considers her a good friend making it clear to us viewers that he has made his choice in Chidori… YEAH!!
When he returns to school Chidori confesses, between tears, how very scared she was when he left and that she will never forgive him. It’s a very tender scene because she is always the strong one and she just lets him see her vulnerability. The scene on the train when they are going home is so sweet. There is a sense of things returning to some normalcy.


Many loose ends here which gives us hope that there will be more Full Metal Panic in the future. Amalgam is still out there and Leonard has not been unveiled to Mithril. Mao appears to have takes over duties for Wraith and I think she will do a better job at it. I think I already mentioned it but I will say it again… this was definitely one of the best series of 2005. It is not a series that can be watched by anyone, there are too many references to the first season for this to be watched as a stand alone installment (like Fumoffu). It is definitely a sequel. Hopefully we will get more with this quality of storytelling.